Journey through Madagascar

Travelling by road with your private guide, exploring some of Madagascar's best National Parks in search of wildlife and visiting culturally interesting sites along the way with a relaxing interlude by the sea

DAY 2You need a sense of adventure to best appreciate this fascinating island but as long as you are prepared for the odd hitch, your tour will reward you with a wonderful experience. A private guide and driver will whisk you away from the airport bustle and take you to the calm of Le Royal Palissandre, situated on a hillside near the centre of TANA where you can catch a flavour of the city and relax after your journey.

DAY 3The next day set off south with your guide and driver through the highlands of central Madagascar, passing typical landscapes of distinctive architecture and rice fields of the Merina people. Couleur Café, a little guesthouse-style hotel in a pretty garden setting, is centrally located in ANTSIRABE, an elegant town with streets that throng with pousse-pousse (rickshaws)!

DAY 4 to 5Your journey now enters the country of the Betsileo people and it is worth stopping in Ambositra, an attractive town with ornately carved balconies and shutters. After visiting a woodcarving workshop, turn off the main road to enter a wonderful montane rainforest and continue to Ranomafana. Setam Lodge will be your base for exploration on foot of RANOMAFANA NATIONAL PARK which was created to protect two critically endangered lemur species, golden bamboo and greater bamboo. These are among a dozen different species which, along with frogs, chameleons and the many endemic birds make this one of the country’s richest wildlife areas.

DAY 6After a morning’s walk, drive on to FIANARANTSOA, Madagascar’s second largest city, in an area of tea estates and vineyards. Stay overnight at Tsara Guest House, a converted church which provides charming accommodation and very good food. Be sure to sample some of the local wines with your dinner!

DAYS 7 and 8The route continues through more magnificent scenery with a detour into Ambalavao where there is a paper making factory and a convenient restaurant for lunch. A little further on is community-run Anja Park where ring-tailed lemurs can be found. The journey now takes you past the Andringitra Mountains, an area of huge granite peaks and domes and through Ihosy the capital of the Bara people who were originally nomadic cattle raisers. The scenery changes to grasslands on the Horombe Plateau and you will drive through Ranohira on your way to your next hotel.Relais De La Reine is a lovely French-run hotel on the edge of ISALO NATIONAL PARK. You will have a wonderful day exploring the caves and canyons of the dramatic sandstone massif, being suddenly startled by the lemurs that inhabit the area and perhaps taking a dip in the piscine naturelle.

DAYS 9 to 11Drive further west to TULEAR, past the tombs adorned with zebu horns. There are also a couple of ‘settlements’ which have sprung up since the discovery of sapphires. Quite fascinating and reminiscent of the Gold Rush! A hotel beside the sea now awaits – Les Dunes d'Ifaty offers a combination of beach, baobabs, birds and much more! Apart from snorkelling and generally relaxing, you can take bikes or an organised excursion to explore a small reserve of spiny forest.

DAYS 12 to 14Fly back to Tana and then drive east to the rainforest reserve of PERINET. Vakona Lodge is close by with its cottage accommodation.As you enter the forest, listen for the haunting cry of the Indri, the largest of the lemur species. Your guide can also help you find other lemurs, tree frogs, chameleons and tenrecs on the island in the lake, part of Vakona's property.What a journey this will be – imagine all the images and memories that you will take home!

DAY 15Return to Tana and fly overnight to London via Nairobi

What About?

There are other areas to explore in Madagascar including NOSY MANGABE in the east for a chance to see the strange aye-aye lemurs and the AVENUE OF THE BAOBABS near Morondava in the west. You could also spend a few days in the north west of the country on NOSY BE, 'The Big Island' which has a well-developed structure for beach holidays, or at Anjajavy on the mainland with spacious bungalows overlooking the ocean. Not only perfect for relaxation, this area also offers enough of interest for the energetic with an area of dry deciduous forest and tsingy limestone, and lemurs and a good variety of birds to be found

Try This?

Intriguing MadagascarDiscovering some of the fascinating wildlife, cultures and colours of a mulch-faceted country